Acid-Functionalized Mesoporous Carbon: An Efficient Support for Ruthenium-Catalyzed [gamma]-Valerolactone Production

• Published in: ChemSusChem 2015-08, Vol.8 (15), p.2520
• Main Authors: Villa, Alberto, Schiavoni, Marco, Chan-Thaw, Carine E, Fulvio, Pasquale F, Mayes, Richard T, Dai, Sheng, More, Karren L, Veith, Gabriel M, Prati, Laura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201500331

The hydrogenation of levulinic acid has been studied using Ru supported on ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) prepared by soft-templating. P- and S-containing acid groups were introduced by postsynthetic functionalization before the addition of 1% Ru by incipient wetness impregnation. These functionalities and the reaction conditions mediate the activity and selectivity of the levulinic acid hydrogenation. The presence of S-containing groups (Ru/OMC-S and Ru/OMC-P/S) deactivates the Ru catalysts strongly, whereas the presence of P-containing groups (Ru/OMC-P) enhances the activity compared to that of pristine Ru/OMC. Under mild conditions (70°C and 7bar H2) the catalyst shows high selectivity to [gamma]-valerolactone (GVL; >95%) and high stability on recycling. However, under more severe conditions (200°C and p H 2=40bar) Ru/OMC-P is particularly able to promote GVL ring-opening and the consecutive hydrogenation to pentanoic acid.